[sriswe]

Originally Posted by 9tMax

Sriswe,
I noted my odo reading to see how long the queue in the other lane is. And believe it or not, the queue was a little over 7 km long, yes, you read it right - it was 7000 mtr..
So take your pick accordingly.

Originally Posted by mobike008

This route is becoming horrific day by day. They need to widen this road real fast. 7kms jam is something i wouldnt like to be caught dead in.

Taking a train to Vjw/Rajmundhry seems to be the most wise decision till they widen that stretch.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Absolutely agree.VJA NH9 road surface is surprisingly good inspite of all that road widening work thats going on.Khammam route is pretty bad at the moment.Inspite of all the speeds and skills,VJA-Hyd(Ramoji Film City) is going to take 5.5 hours in any car!

Thanks 9tmax, mobike008 and ranjitp1 for all your responses. I forgot to check this thread as the trip is postponed to the next weekend ( 13 - 17 Nov). Yes, some colleagues who traveled to Nalgonda/VJA this diwali also reported that NH5 is in good condition and it should take around 6 hours for hyd-vja stretch.

Mobike008, yeah, taking a train is best option and I may change to this mode at last minute considering that reservation tickets are available now as the festive season is over ;-)

Thanks,
Srinivas.R

[gavinimurthy]

You will love the Vijayawada rajamundry stretch. Excellant 4 lane road with wide dividers. Hyderabad to Suryapet is going to be crawling speeds as the road widening work is in progress. However from Suryapet the road is wider and you can pick up decent speeds.

Murthy

[tosudarshana]

Travelled on 25th December 2010

I travelled through Khammam -Sattupalli - Aswaraopet route. It is worse than what I expected. You need to concentrate real hard to avoid the ditches that are more than a foot deep. It took 10 hours for me to reach rajahumundry in I10. I feel the NH9 is far better to keep your car in good condiation, though you may not hit good speads between HYD to VJA.

After my research on routes and blogs. I have descided not to touch NH9 at all so I took

HYD-Bhongir-Jangoan-Thirumalgiri-Thorrur-Khammam-Wyra-Sattupalli-Aswaraopet-Jangareddygudem-Koyyalagudem-Kovvur-Rajahamundry (430 kms)

Especially the stretch between Aswaraopet and Jangareddygudem is unimaginebaly worst.

Better travel by NH9....NH5

[tmnraghu78]

Hi All,

I am travelling to Annavaram on this Thursday. I heard in the news that the next section of outer ring road is open from airport to peddamberpet. If anyone traveled on this road towards Vijayawada, please let me know. I decided to take the NH9 and NH5 route to avoid state highways.

Please let me know your experiences and comments on this route if anyone traveled in last two weeks.

Thanks,
Raghu Lakshman

[sriswe]

Originally Posted by tosudarshana

Travelled on 25th December 2010

I travelled through Khammam -Sattupalli - Aswaraopet route. It is worse than what I expected. You need to concentrate real hard to avoid the ditches that are more than a foot deep. It took 10 hours for me to reach rajahumundry in I10. I feel the NH9 is far better to keep your car in good condiation, though you may not hit good speads between HYD to VJA.

After my research on routes and blogs. I have descided not to touch NH9 at all so I took

HYD-Bhongir-Jangoan-Thirumalgiri-Thorrur-Khammam-Wyra-Sattupalli-Aswaraopet-Jangareddygudem-Koyyalagudem-Kovvur-Rajahamundry (430 kms)

Especially the stretch between Aswaraopet and Jangareddygudem is unimaginebaly worst.

Better travel by NH9....NH5

thanks tosudarshana for a good update on current road condition.

Originally Posted by tmnraghu78

Hi All,

I am travelling to Annavaram on this Thursday. I heard in the news that the next section of outer ring road is open from airport to peddamberpet. If anyone traveled on this road towards Vijayawada, please let me know. I decided to take the NH9 and NH5 route to avoid state highways.

Please let me know your experiences and comments on this route if anyone traveled in last two weeks.

Thanks,
Raghu Lakshman

hi raghu,

did you make the trip, if yes can you please let me know about this new ORR , is it opened from NH 7 towards NH9 ? also do update me on NH9-NH5 condition as well as I am also planning a trip to vizag.

Thanks,
Srinivas.R

[sriswe]

Hi,

Went to Vizag and came back between 22 -24 Jan by Volvo bus and here is the update:

Hyd - Vijayawada:
------------------

- Night driving will be absolutley risky, never attempt even if you are a experienced driver.
- 4 Laning work in full swing, I could not notice/observe any diversions, most of the road is very narrow.
- Some pot holed road (approx for 2-3 KMs) near Nandigama (before reaching the 4 lane road from Nandigama).
- Volvo took around 7 hours (including 20 mins break).

Vijayawada - Vizag:
-------------------

- Absolute breeze to drive on the 4-Laned GQ NH-5.
- 5-10 mins of waiting at 2 toll gates on this NH, heavy truck/bus traffic during night.


APSRTC cancelled buses via Khammam route due to the bad road condition, however some one said that the road is now good and private Volvo's are plying on this Khammam route, but not sure.

Thanks,
Srinivas.R

[himavanth_m]

I am planning to go to Vizag from Hyderabad on Wednesday night.
I had done the route via Khammam 4 years ago and the roads had very less traffic and surface was good. However, I have seen that the road condition deteriorated a lot. Does anyone have experience of the Hyd - Suryapet - Khammam - Rajamundry route recently?

If I wish to take the route via khammam, is the route safe? I will be travelling at night. Any pointers regarding the problematic areas in this route will be helpful.

I had done Hyd vijayawada route numerous times almost once every month and I want a change in route for once. Hence I am asking this question.

If it is too bad I will stick to the route via Vijayawada.

[Praveen1]

Planning a trip this week end.. Can anyone please let me know the current status of the road conditions between Hyderabad and vijayawad. I understand that the four way laning is in full swing... wanted to know the bad patches and any suggestions..

Am planning a trip this weekend, can anyone please let me know the current road conditions between hyderabad and vijayawada. I know that the 4-way laning is in full swing, just wanted to know if there are any bad patches and even some suggestions

[Night_Hawk]

Originally Posted by Praveen1

Am planning a trip this weekend, can anyone please let me know the current road conditions between hyderabad and vijayawada. I know that the 4-way laning is in full swing, just wanted to know if there are any bad patches and even some suggestions

Despite being notorious for heavy traffiic and ongoing 4 laning works, IMHO NH9 is the best option for Hyd - Vja travel.

There are ocassional bad patches. Only concern should be th undivided carraige way where overtaking has to be done cautiously.

Drive safe and enjoy the trip

[windsurfer]

Has anyone does this trip recently? I will be doing this in next 2-3 weeks, so I need inputs.

[NoRules]

Originally Posted by windsurfer

Has anyone does this trip recently? I will be doing this in next 2-3 weeks, so I need inputs.

Been on this route till Vijayawada twice recently, road work is going on in full swing - Hyd - Kodad will take 4 hours and Vja will take 6 hours. Watch out for the diversion signs, there are too many of them.

[drgvrao]

I have just reached back to Hyderabad from Rajahmundry to Hyderabad via Vijayawada-Kodad-Suryapet-Nakrekal-Narkatpall. The HYD-VZA stretch is a pleasure to drive. Have been using this road since 1997 and have seen the worst conditions but now after 4 laning, this road is a pleasure to drive........Almost 99% of the road is complete except for small patches near Kodad, Suryapet, Narkatpalli. A SUV or a sedan can now take you to VZA within 4 hours provided you exercise caution. The VZA-Rajahmundry stretch is as smooth as glass and is a heavenly drive with greenery all round.....A word of caution to all the users of this stretch. Be extremely cautious about villagers using the wrong side and coming into a head long collision since they are not following one-way traffic rule. Further buffaloes are left off to graze on the grass in the median.........Just be very careful

[prabingade]

I drove down from Vizag to Hyderabad yesterday via Vij and agree with you 100%. It is such a disappointment to see lot of traffic on the wrong side. It is a pleasure to drive but one needs to be extremely cautious due to wrong side traffic and buffaloes.

[Dadi Bhote]

Originally Posted by prabingade

I drove down from Vizag to Hyderabad yesterday via Vij and agree with you 100%. It is such a disappointment to see lot of traffic on the wrong side. It is a pleasure to drive but one needs to be extremely cautious due to wrong side traffic and buffaloes.

Did this route yesterday .
Went to Dindi. Left Hyd at 6 am. Reached Dindi at 2pm.

Roads are excellent. Watch out for vehicles driving on the wrong side.

[RollingWheels]

Hi,
Could you please tell me more about the road condition from Suryapet to Vizag using Khammam Route. Last I heard was that this route was not that recommended. Has there been a change. Someone in my family plans to take this route tomorrow. Thanks